The Intersection 4-9-23

The news has been relentless lately telling us about wondrous new plans and technologies that will take the auto industry into a remarkable new future. This week, we zoom a little closer into that picture to show you some specific examples of technological change in the making.

Our Emerging Technologies special section gives you a glimpse of more than 20 new devices, trends, factory practices and bold ideas to lift vehicles to the next evolutionary stage. Turns out, automotive is currently leading the economy in the growth of patent applications.

Will all those new technologies succeed as envisioned? Who knows. That’s the sort of question investors and entrepreneurs wager their fortunes on.

But “success” is a funny word in the car business. Mostly because the industry is constantly evolving, changing strategies and changing hands, and a brilliant solution that succeeds one year could be rendered obsolete the next.

Consider MG.

The iconic century-old British sports car brand gave up on the American market 43 years ago, reporter Richard Truett reminds us, and the name nearly died. But MG’s recent story has been quite a surprise. New investment from China over the past 20 years has turned it into a hot brand. Last year, sales of MG-badged cars reached 660,000 globally. If that’s not a success, it’ll do till a real one comes along.

And as you mull over the changing nature of success and failure, be sure to check out this week’s Final Assembly. We’ve provided the names there of the top 10 of the 73 automotive billionaires who made this year’s Forbes ranking of the world’s wealthiest people. (And yes, surprise spoiler: Elon Musk is at the top of the list.)

It’s interesting to note, as you read that list, how many of those 73 billionaires struggled to avoid failing at what they’re doing — but also how many of them once proposed some unfamiliar new idea that eventually took the industry by storm.

— Lindsay Chappell